Sony joins the curved UHD party with the launch of the Bravia S90

Given the frequent displays of one-upmanship from LG and Samsung over the last few years, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they were the only companies to manufacture UHD televisions. Of course other players like Sharp, Panasonic and Sony have all been knocking out 3,840 x 2,160 resolution TVs for at least as long as LG and Samsung, some even longer. Sony Europe has today announced that it's joining the curved 4K TV sparring ring with the launch of its Bravia S90.

The Sony Bravia S90 UHD television will be available in 65- and 75-in models, with a "precisely-calculated curve" that looks to be somewhat less pronounced than the curve on the gargantuan examples from LG and Samsung. Nevertheless, Sony Europe says that viewers can look forward to "spectacularly immersive, natural-looking 4K pictures" at four times the resolution of Full HD TVs.

As you might expect, both S90 flavors are packed with Sony display and audio technologies. You'll find its Triluminos Display for more vivid reds, greens and blues than on conventional white LED screens, X-tended Dynamic Range that automatically adjusts display brightness and contrast and the X-Reality Pro picture engine, which upscales regular TV broadcasts and Blu-ray movie entertainment to up to four times as many pixels as High Definition. And both models come with two pairs of active 3D glasses for stereoscopic viewing.

The TVs come with a built-in 4.2 channel Multi-angle Live Speaker system that uses separate drive units to mimic immersive surround sound. Two woofers have also been incorporated inside the curvy TV for some extra low end thunder, and viewers also have the option to link up an optional wireless sub. ClearAudio+ Discrete Processing has been included too, to keep the original multi-channel mix intact. There's also an integrated webcam and microphone for big screen video chats.

Unfortunately, Sony Europe is keeping tight-lipped on pricing and availability at the moment, and it's not known when (or even if) the new TVs will be shipped Stateside.

While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before the desire for sunnier climes saw him wave a fond farewell to his native Blighty in favor of Bordeaux, France. He's now a dedicated newshound pursuing the latest bleeding edge tech for Gizmag.

Instead of concentrating on totally useless curved displays, TV and monitor makers should consider to forget stupid shiny glasses, and return to the common sense, to ergonomic matt displays.
How many decades will be needed for TV and monitor makers to understand, that those shiny displays are crap, regardless of the application?
Is it possible, that they didn't even realize, that plasma displays were rejected by the market just because of their shiny glasses?

Rumata

I don't normally enjoy throwing poo at what I can't afford.

But for anyone that has seen these beauties on display, does the reflection off a curved TV throw anyone out?
Its like looking into a spoon. Reflections warp and chase as you move your head, and feel far more distracting then a flat TV.
To complement Rumata's comment, I also wish they made them matt.

Bar the Plasma comment. I purchased a plasma over an LED in the same price group because (even after adjusting everything via remote) I found the blacks to be deeper, and colours more natural.
LED was like a bright colourful clown house. Great for Toy Story or Avatar, but not much good for anything else. Thankfully they've improved since that time, but now laser TV ( 120% RGB) is just around the corner, so I think I might wait :)

Nairda

I don't see any point in a curved display on the other side of a room. The only point I could see to a curve is if I were either close enough or it were huge enough to curve around my field of view which wouldn't be the case here.

Daishi

I agree with Daishi, I think flat panels are the best at least up to about a 75 degree diagonal fov which corresponds to a 28mm lens on a full frame camera and this would require a 150inch display at only 8 foot viewing distance and we are nowhere close to getting displays of that size at an affordable price.

Of course actually installing displays in a curve of 90 degrees or more in a home would be tricky and probably would require a rollable display to be rolled out sideways along a rail on the ceiling. Displays set up for such a large field of view would not be suitable for regular movies, they need new content just like is starting to be made for head mounted displays.

The major failing of this new marketing fad of little curved displays is that with 1 to 1 pixel mapping you have a distorted image and correcting for the curvature means losing some detail and either discarding a small part of the image or adding some black to the image.

I just hope this does not become the standard for all mid range to high end displays, leaving people who want a flat display only with the choice of either the cheapest or possibly some ultra expensive high end niche product.